Outboard motor support bracket means



Dec. 17, 1968 D. c. ARNETT 3,416,759

OUTBOARD MOTOR SUPPORT BRACKET MEANS Filed Nov. 2, 1966 A; 44 i: 3e

v INVENTOR.

DONALD c. ARNETT TORN S 3,416,759 OUTBOARD MOTOR SUPPORT BRACKET MEANSDonald C. Arnett, 216 W. Poplar, Arkansas City, Kans. 67005 Filed Nov.2, 1966, Ser. No. 591,464 5 Claims. (Cl. 248-4) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention is a bracket means connectible to anchor anoutboard motor mounted on the stern portion of a boat. Morespecifically, this invention is a bracket means including a lug assemblyconnected to the outboard motor having a laterally extended dome-shapedhead portion; a strap member engageable with head portion to restrictlateral movement therefrom; and linkage means having a chain membersecured to the strap means through a spring member to bias the outboardmotor in a resiliently anchored position.

Various types of strap and bracket combinations are known to the priorart operable to anchor an outboard motor on the stern portion of a boat.However, the prior art devices are structurally complicated in manyinstances requiring specially made clamping and connecting means andothers require a great many of individual parts in securing an outboardmotor to the stern portion of a boat to prevent damage thereto.Additionally, the prior art devices are comparatively expensive tomanufacture, complicated in usage, and time-consuming to connect anddisconnect to the outboard motors so as to operate in a mannersubstantially similar to that disclosed by the bracket means of theinvention as described herein.

In accordance with the present invention, a new support bracket means isprovided readily attachable to the stern portion of a boat andengageable with an outboard motor mounted on the stern portion toprevent undue movement thereof. The support bracket means of thisinvention preferably includes a lug assembly attachable to an outerhousing of the outboard motor and an elongated connecting meansattachable to the stern portion of the boat engagcable with the lugmember. The connecting means preferably includes an elongated strapmeans having linkage means connected to opposite ends thereof. Eachlinkage means advantageously includes an elongated chain assembly havinga spring member mounted between the same and the strap means whereby, inusage, the spring means operates to resiliently bias the strap meansinto engagement with the outer housing of the outboard motor. The lugassembly conveniently includes a bolt member having an enlarged, domeshaped head portion on a threaded shaft, a nut and washer secured to theshaft, and an enlarged shock-absorbing washer mounted between theoutboard motor housing and the nut and washer. The strap means ispreferably provided with a central opening therein of a size slightlylarger than the dome-shaped head portion of the bolt member andengageable thereabout in usage to prevent lateral move ment of theconnecting means therefrom.

In other preferred specific embodiments of the invention, the bracketmeans includes a connecting means attachable to the stern portion of aboat having a strap means engageable with a lug assembly secured to thecasing or housing of an outboard motor mounted on the boat. Theconnecting means has linkage means connected to opposite ends of thestrap means and engageable with laterally projecting ring membersconventionally found mounted on the stern portion of a boat foranchoring to a dock, pulling water skiers, etc, The strap means includesa belt-type main body having a plurality of circular per- United StatesPatent 0 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 forations in a mid-portion thereofwhereupon any one of the perforations may be punched out so as to beengageable with the lug assembly in usage. At opposite ends of the mainbody are U-shaped clamps secured thereto which are connectable to therespective linkage means. Each linkage means is constructed of anelongated chain member having a hook member secured to one end and theother end is connected to a spring assembly which, in turn, is connectedto the respective clamps of the strap means. The hook members are of aconventional snaptype readily attachable to the ring members on thestern of the boat. The spring assembly is constructed of a maincompression spring having a pair of attachment hook members mountedtherethrough and the outer ends of the hook members are connected to thechain member and the clamp of the strap means, respectively. The lugassembly has a main bolt member with an enlarged domeshaped head portionand a threaded shaft portion mountable through an opening in the outerhousing of the outboard motor so that the head projects laterallytherefrom. A nut and washer are mounted on the threaded shaft portionand a resilient washer member mounted between the washer and the housingof the outboard motor thereby providing for a resilient mounting of thebolt member so as to prevent damage to the outer housing of the outboardmotor. The dome-shaped head portion is of a size adapted to receive theopening of the punched out perforation in the main body of the strapmeans thereabout to present an effective connector thereto operable inconjunction with the attachment of the hook members to the respectivering members to anchor the outboard motor in a given position.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a supportbracket means for anchoring outboard motors to the stern portion of aboat overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior artdevices.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bracket means forresiliently securing an outboard motor on the stern portion of a boat ina raised position for land transporting purposes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bracket means havinga lug member secured to an outboard motor and a connecting meansattachable to boththe lug member and the stern portion of a boat wherebythe outboard motor is held in a given inclined position for the landtranspotring thereof.

One other object of this invention is to provide a bracket means foranchoring an outboard motor to the stern portion of a boat that isreadily adjustable so as to be usable to anchor various types and sizesof outboard motors to their respective supporting boats.

One further object of this invention is to provide a bracket means toanchor an outboard motor secured to the stern portion of a boat for landtransporting purposes that is easy to use, inexpensive to manufacture,and dependable in operation.

Varius other objects, advantages, and features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdiscussion, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the bracket means of this inventionillustrated as mounted on the stern portion of a boat and operablyconnected to an outboard motor secured to the boat to anchor the same inan inactive position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the bracket meansof this invention illustrated as connected to the boat in the outboardmotor; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a supporting lugassembly of the bracket means of this invention.

The following is a discussion and description of the preferred specificembodiments of the new bracket means of this invention, such being madewith reference to the drawings, whereupon the same reference numeralsare used to indicate the same or similar parts and/or structure. It isto be understood that such discussion and description is not to undulylimit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and in particular to FIG. 1 thesupport bracket means of this invention, indicated generally at 8, isillustrated as attached to a stern portion of a conventional boat 12having a standard outboard motor 14 mounted on the stern portion 10. Thesupport bracket means 8 includes a connecting means 17 and a lugassembly 19 which is mounted on an outer housing 21 of the outboardmotor 14 and adapted to engage the connecting means 17 as will becomeobvious,

More specifically, the connecting means 17 includes a strap means 23having linkage means 25 and 26 connected to opposite ends thereof. Thestrap means 23 is of a belt type having an elongated main body 28 withU-shaped clamp members 30 secured to opposite ends thereof. The mainbody 28 is provided with a plurality of pro-punched circularperforations 32 whereupon a selected one thereof may be punched out toprovide a circular opening 33 engageable with the lug assembly 19 aswill be explained. The main body 28 can be constructed of any durableflexible material such as nylon belting, leather, or the like having thecharacteristics of not being readily stretched out of shape, strongenough to prevent breakage during normal usage and remaining flexibleunder all temperature conditions so as to readily conform to the shapeof the housing 21 of the outboard motor 14 with an outer surface thatwill not cause damage to the housing 21.

As the linkage means 25 and 26 are substantially identical, only thelinkage means 25 need be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, thelinkage means 25 includes an elongated link chain member 36 having ahook member 38 secured to one end and a spring assembly 39 attached tothe other which, in turn, is connected to a clamp member 30 of the strapmeans 23. The hook member 38 is of a conventional snap-type so as to bereadily attachable to a ring member 41 secured to the stern portion 10of the boat 12. The spring assembly 39 is of a compression type having aspring member 42 and a pair of hook members 44 and 45 mounted therein.The hook members 44 and 45 are of a U-shape having laterally extendedleg portions 47 engageable with one end of the spring member 42 andhaving the mid-portions of the hook members .44 and 45 extended withinand through the spring member 42. The other outer ends of the hookmembers 44 and 45 are connectable to the chain member 36 and a clampmember 30, respectively. The spring assembly 39 is of the type whereuponthe leg portions 47 can be moved inwardly towards each other so that thelower hook member 44 may be removed therefrom and attached to adifferent individual link 48 of the chain member 36 thereby providingfor the shortening or the lengthening of the respective linkage means 25and 26 as required. It is obvious that the spring assembly 39 acts undercompression to provide a resiliency to the connecting means 17 as willbe explained.

The lug assembly 19 includes a main bolt member 51 having a dome-shapedhead portion 53 integral with a laterally extended threaded shaft 54.The head portion 53 is of a size slightly smaller than the opening 33 inthe main body 28 of the strap means 23 to receive the same as will beexplained. Additionally, the lug assembly 19 includes a nut member 56threaded upon the shaft 54, a washer 58 mountable about the shaft 54,and a relatively thick resilient washer member 59 also mountable aboutthe shaft 54 in a manner to be explained.

In the assembly, use, and operation of the support bracket means 8 ofthis invention, the lug assembly 19 is first connected to the outerhousing 21 of the outboard motor 14 by drilling a hole 63 thereinadapted to receive the shaft 54 of the bolt member 51 therethrough. Theresilient washer 59 is mounted about the shaft 54 and held against theinner surface of the housing 21 as by the washer 58 and the nut member56, respectively, as shown in FIG. 3. It is seen that the resilientwasher 59 operates to permit limited tilting movement of the bolt member51 under unusual loads without damaging the housing 21 of the outboardmotor 14. The linkage means 25 is thereupon connected by the respectivehook member 38 to the rearwardly extended ring member 41 secured to thestern portion 10 of the boat 12 whereupon the strap means 23 is trainedover the outboard motor 14 which has been tilted towards the bow of theboat 12 as shown in FIG. 1. The opening 33 in the main body 28 isthereupon placed over the dome shaped head portion 53 of the bolt member51 so as to engage the lower portion thereof adjacent the housing 21(FIG. 3). The other linkage means 26 is thereupon connected to anotherone of the ring members 41 on the other side of the stern portion 10whereupon the spring assemblies 39 act to hold a pressure on theoutboard motor 14 to hold the same in the tilted position. It is obviousthat the spring assemblies 39 can be attached to a different link 48 ofthe respective chain members 36 so as to achieve the proper length andresultant pressure on the outboard motor 14 to hold the same in thisposition which is desirable for satisfactory land transporting purposes.

lormally, a block member 64 is placed between the drive shaft portion 66of the outboard motor 14 and the stern portion 10 of the boat 12 to holdthe outboard motor 14 in an inclined position and the bracket means ofthis invention acts to place a downward pressure on the same as shown inFIG. 2. It is seen that the bracket means 8 of this invention is readilyattachable to the ring members 41 conventionally found on the sternportion 10 of the boat 12 to provide a sturdy, eflicient, and effectivemeans of rapidly anchoring the outboard motor 14 for land transportingpurposes so as to prevent damage to the boat 14 from turning andshifting movement of the outboard motor 14 thereon.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description of the preferredembodiment of applicants bracket means, relative simple and inexpensivemeans have been provided which are easily attachable to conventionalboats and outboard motors so as to provide an inexpensive and efficientmethod to anchor the motors during land transporting to prevent damageto the adjacent portions of the stern of the boat. Applicantsconstruction eliminates a great deal of time consuming and tedious workinvolved in anchoring outboard motors mounted on boats to prevent damagethereto.

While the invention has been described in connection with the preferredspecific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that thisdescription is intended to illustrate and not to limit unduly the scopeof the invention, which is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A bracket means adapted to hold an outboard motor in a raisedposition on the stern of a boat, comprising:

(a) a lug assembly connected to the outboard motor and extendedlaterally therefrom,

(b) strap means having a portion engageable with said lug assembly toprevent lateral movement therefrom, and

(c) linkage means secured to opposite ends of said strap meansconnectible to the stern of the boat to hold the outpoard motor in theraised position, and

(d) said lug assembly having a bolt member with an enlarged dome-shapedhead portion placed against the one side of the outboard motor housingand a resilient washer held against the other side of the housing by anut member to absorb shocks during usage.

2. A bracket means as described in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said strap means having an elongated main body,

and

(b) said portion engageable with said lug assembly having an openingmountable about said head portion of said bolt member to restrictlateral movement therefrom.

3. A bracket means as described in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said linkage means having an elongated chain member, a hook membersecured to one end of said chain member attachable to the stern of theboat, and a spring member connected to the other end of said chainmember, and

(b) said spring member connected to said strap means to bias the sameinto engagement with the outboard motor to maintain the raised position.

4. A bracket means as described in claim 3, wherein:

(a) said spring member having a compression spring and attachment hooksengageable with opposite ends thereof, and

(b) said attachment hooks readily releasable and connectable to aselected portion of said chain member to lengthen or shorten saidlinkage means as required.

5. A bracket means as descriped in claim 2, wherein:

(a) said linkage means having chain members, hooks secured to one end ofsaid chain members connectable to the stern of the boat, and springmeans having opposite ends secured to said chain members and said mainbody, and

(b) said spring means readily connectable to various portions of saidchain members to lengthen or shorten the overall length as requiredwhereby, in use, said bracket means acts to bias the outboard motordownwardly to resiliently restrict movement thereof and prevent damageto the stern of the boat.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 830,220 9/1906 Gibson 2547 81,348,970 8/1920 Thompson 248361 X 2,728,058 12/1955 Phalen 248361 X2,948,253 8/1960 Coonrod 2484 X FOREIGN PATENTS 565,482 11/1944 GreatBritain.

390,794 8/1965 Switzerland.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

F. DOMOTOR, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

